Csilla

[Delta73]

”œEnemy forces, this is Rebel Alliance Commander Cadio Sikaot. It's time for you to leave.”

[Onderin Starlisk]

OOC:

((OCC, Onderin. The Lambda-class shuttle doesnt have twelve laser cannons. http://www.starwars.com/databank/starship/lambdashuttle/index.html ))

 

Yes, the standard shuttle does have, in fact, ten lasers (that is, five doubles). However, there were versions which had a couple more and some warheads, along with a better hull and shielding. That's what Onderin sent now, since this is a combat situation.

 

IC:

It wasn't long before the Lambda shuttle returned with the Chiss Admiral aboard. Nurth'ras'hnuruodo was given a request to head to the bridge so he could speak with Onderin Starlisk in person.

 

Meanwhile, the Jedi Master waited and continued to employ some tried-and-true tactics to battle the masses of eyeballs, squints, dupes, and brights that continued to flood the vacuum of space around his fleet. Having been an E-wing pilot for some time himself, Onderin had developed personally some of the tactics he was now employing, though his time with Halo squadron had by now long been surpassed by his time as Admiral.

 

He was getting to be somewhat of a veteran at his post, having outlasted more than one Emperor himself... he could think of at least three, and this wasn't Geki's first time either. But still he had to fight as hard as ever before, in fact even harder, his experience guiding him but not guaranteeing victory by any means.

 

It was a galactic struggle. The Force would determine the victor.

 

Onderin turned around and bowed as Nurth'ras'hnuruodo entered the bridge. "Admiral," he said in greeting.

[Cadio Sikaot]

His mind rushing, Cadio fired continually. He was ducked down behind a few barrels of spare droid parts, attempting to find shelter. So maybe jumping down from his ship right off the bat wasn't the best idea he'd ever had, and it was possibly a deadly one, but he wasn't worried. He came up from behind the barrels and was instantly hit by a blaster bolt from one of his opponents. His shoulder flew backward, taking his body with it. The smell of burnt flesh began to fill the area, but he didn't have time for that right now.

 

He separated two of the barrels just enough to fit the tip of his blaster through. He opened up on his opponents from his new vantage point, stopping their firing. His muscle tensed as he heard a metallic clank hit the decking next to him. He had heard that many times, and it usually wasn't good. He spied the thermal detonator next to him, and immediately began towards it. It was on a timer of ten seconds, so he had that long to get rid of it and clear the twenty five meter blast radius. He lobbed the detonator back towards its origin, then began sprinting towards other shelter, out of the blast radius. He saw his opponents scatter when the detonator came flying back towards them.

 

Plooshhhhhh...

 

The detonator exploded, sending debris everywhere. All the competitors had made it clear, but the E-web hadn't been so lucky, disintegrating into hundreds of white-hot metal pieces. That theoretically leveled the playing field, leaving each contestant with whatever they had on their person. Cadio rolled out of his hiding spot to find the open deck empty. So his opponents had chosen to find a hiding spot and wait him out. He was fine with that, it made his job easier.

 

His thoughts sprang back to the training exercise he had done when he was still a Captain in the Alliance. Gren Saridonga had been his opponent, and a worthy one at that. They had been in a simulation, in the middle of the forest. Gren had been hiding behind some trees. Cadio had been on the hunt, looking for the man, and he had heard the snap of a twig, alerting him to his adversaries' position. That was what he had to do. He had to listen, then go with his gut instinct.

 

He ceased all movement, blocking out all thoughts from his mind, and listened. He heard the scurrying of some small rodents, he heard the small hum of the air recycling, the battle raging out in the vacuum of space. Ckk... There! To his left, behind his ship, he had heard footsteps. He walked silently over towards his ship, then climbed on top. He crept slowly over towards the edge. Right in front of him, facing the other way, was the man from the E-web. He put the man in his sights.

 

"Well, hello there. How bout you don't move and we can end this easily..."

 

((1))

[Omega73]

”œCrosa, open up on him as well!”

[Gren Sairdonga]

((OOC: Seemed pretty good to me.))

 

With a flash and the smell of burnt flesh and bone the last bridge officer collapsed on the deck of the bridge of the Vortex...

 

"Commander. The bridge is secure... Team Two reports that the auxiliary bridge is also under our control... They also report securing the remnants of two Jedi and the previous boarding team..."

 

Nodding Gren decided on a quick course of action...

 

"Leftenant. Turn off the gravity wells and get me a channel to the Justiciar Change weapons targeting to the Imperial Capital ships attacking the Justiciar and set them to auto. Order team Three to remove any final Imp infestations and secure the ship."

 

The soldiers moved to comply to his orders... As a link was set up to the Justiciar Gren settled his armour... A few burns marked near misses and one patch a hit that didn't quite go through his armour...

"Admiral Starlisk. As you may have noticed the gravity projectors are offline. The Vortex is under our control.."

[Wookiee Jedi]

Kirlocca could feel his energy draining, fast! He would not be able to hold his barrier against the dark lord for much longer, and his healing trance that he feel into was not working. Kirlocca's mind raced to find another solution fast. After a few seconds, Kirlocca reach out to the crew of the Liberty, begging for them to abandon the ship.

 

Kirlocca then pushed out to Starlisk. "I've lost the Liberty!" With that, Kirlocca passed out from a lack of energy. The last thought to run through his mind was a glimmer of hope that the crew would abandon the ship.

 

(Thanks for the duel Raynuk, it really pushed me to my limits.)

[Raynuk Montar]

(Indeed it was a good duel. Maybe some other time )

 

Quietus watched with a satisfied grin as the Jedi passed out before him, his two lightsabers clattering to the floor to join his third. After a moment of mental prodding to make sure that Kirlocca was not in any way faking it, the Dark Lord returned to his feet and walked casually over to the wookiee. Grinning still, the Sith reached out with his hand as Kirlocca's silver lightsaber came soaring across the room and into the Sith's open palm. The Sith examined it carefully, but still keeping an eye on the wookiee's corpse. Without word, Quietus hooked Kirlocca's lightsaber onto his own belt, intending to keep it as a prize of his battle with the wookiee, or to at least prove the Jedi Master's defeat.

While the Dark Lord had not had the opportunity to actually kill the wookiee, it was a victory none the less. But still, Quietus was unhappy that he had not had the honor of slaying the jedi in battle, a fact that gave him a bit of anger, which was released a moment later as he kicked the wookiee's unconscious body. But now that the wookiee had been dealt with, a new set of priorities took over in Quietus' mind. Pulling out his comm unit, he called to the Fel Hammer for support.

"Fel Hammer, this is Quietus. I have delt with the Jedi aboard the Liberty, send over a boarding party. I intend to take this ship intact. I will begin clearing the way. Have them contact me when they are on board."

After receiving the confirmation, the Dark Lord tucked his comm back into its place, and noticed something else lying on the floor. Not far from where the wookiee had collapsed, was it's large furry paw which had once been connected to the wookiee. Now it was severed. And now, it too belonged to Quietus. Reaching down to pick it up. Quietus realized he really had no place to put it at the moment. Not one to leave such a memento behind, the Dark Lord stopped to think. A few seconds later, Quietus returned to the collapsed form of Kirlocca, and after igniting his lightsaber, did the one thing that would surely get him killed in the near future.

 

He shaved the wookiee.

 

Using his lightsaber with precision, the Dark Lord cut off a fair amount of the wookiee's natural fur, filling the air with the scent of burning hair. Once he was satisfied with the amount of fur he had collected, Quietus began to slowly work it into a sort of braid, and after only a few minutes, he had a nice braided length of wookiee hair. Grinning slightly, he quickly braided it into the severed paw of the wookiee, and draped it around his neck like a pendant.

 

Now he was ready. Standing up again and taking a deep breath, Quietus surveyed the immediate area. There was nothing left except the corpses of the Shock troopers and their transport and the unconscious form of Kirlocca. It was time to finish the job on the Liberty, and the last thing that Quietus wanted was to have Kirlocca suddenly return to consciousness in the middle of Quietus taking over the ship. He reached down and grabbed the unconscious wookiee and threw him over his shoulder, intent on carrying him. Almost immediately Quietus turned,with saber in hand, began working his way through the bowels of the Liberty slicing his way through any rebel trooper or crew member that got in his way.

When Quietus reached the first batch of escape pods, he immediately opened one up, tossed the Wookiee inside, and jettisoned the pod into space. Now he wouldnt have to worry about Kirlocca returning to consciousness and returning for a second round. Watching the pod go for a moment or two, the Dark Lord grinned and resumed his deadly path to the bridge of the Liberty.

[ObliviousKnight]

It was Alderaan.

 

And it was not home.

 

Everything was different; clearly, the Governor of Sanity's End was either not skilled enough to construct a perfect recreation of her destroyed homeworld, or he had never visited it at all. But”¦ of course, this illusion was constructed from her memories of her home, and his limitations dictated that there would be some inaccuracies. The smell of the air was slightly off, no longer saturated with the grass and wildflower pollens that tended to swamp the atmosphere at this time of the year. The color of the sky seemed to be a shade darker than she remembered. Perhaps her own memory was at fault. But superficially, Geki had succeeded in creating a twisted image of something she had hoped to leave for dreams.

 

It was accurate enough that Armiena suddenly felt self-conscious; with the amount of hardware she bore on her gunbelt, she could have easily taken out a platoon of Alderaan's police forces. She would have resembled a deranged terrorist attempting to breach the royal palace. The Jedi Grandmaster began to employ a basic Mind Trick to conceal the impressive weight around her waist”¦ but reminded herself that this was only an illusion””a sick mockery, but an illusion nonetheless.

 

But what now? Armiena strained her mind against the illusion, but it was quickly apparent that Geki had intended to force her to remain in this farce until he was satisfied”¦ and a looming sensation quickly revealed his objective. A looming shadow began to pass over the planet, chilling Armiena's spine with its darkness.

 

Emerald eyes widened in horror. Geki, you sick, sick, bastard!!! She wanted out of this machination of the Governor's mind; she wanted to kill him, strike him so badly that distant cousins would cry out in fear. She wanted to grind his skull under her boots until nothing but calcium-heavy dust and a messy stain remained of him.

 

But most of all, she wanted to scream. She was back on her home planet, on the very day of its destruction, and there was nothing she could do to save it. During her days in the Rebellion, Armiena remembered coming across a classified document about evacuating a planet in the case that a planet-destroying superweapon's arrival was imminent”¦ and it was a logistical impossibility. It would have taken a fleet of ships larger than the Rebel Alliance's Fleet Command to evacuate a planet with Alderaan's population quickly enough to save its people from destruction.

 

Deep breath. Screaming about it won't help you beat him. Trust yourself; break free of the illusion and carry on the fight.

 

I am a ghost. Murmuring that mantra to herself, the Jedi Grandmaster became something less than a white mist to the many tourists and natives here to see the Royal Palace. The mist broke free from the crowd and surged over the palace's elegant, wrought-iron fence. It quickly sped up to the Palace's main entrance, and a dark blue blade darted out from its center to melt the door's locking mechanism. When the door seemingly opened of its own accord to grant the ghost entrance, the guard, clad in the neutral gray of the Viceroy's personal guard, jumped and ordered that malfunction be investigated immediately”¦ and that the Palace's security be bolstered against a possible infiltration.

 

Armiena heard it all, but she didn't care. Skilled and disciplined though Alderaan's defense forces might have been, they were no match for a Jedi who really didn't want to be seen.

 

Armiena Draygo had been in the Palace a few times while accompanying her father on business with Viceroy Bail Organa. Her family was minor nobility, consequence of the achievements of an ancient ancestor during the desperate days when the fallen Jedi Revan seemed poised to conquer the Republic. She'd never mentioned it to any of her fellow Jedi; she never gave her noble birth any gravity. It was merely an interesting bit of trivia, made much more practical when Alderaan was still a live word, as it gave her father a convenient excuse to rub elbows with their planet's leaders on a regular basis.

 

She almost grinned. This journey was evoking fond memories of her childhood: her time with her father”¦ the trouble she used to get into”¦ the conspiracies that her father had dabbled in”¦ the secrets that Armiena was still trying to unravel.

 

With a sprightly pang of hope, much like what a schoolchild would experience after an extraordinary bit of luck during an impossible examination, Armiena realized where her steps were leading her. Her steps were leading her to the Viceroy's personal office

 

”œI'm afraid what you're”¦ requesting is an impossibility, both politically and economically.”

[Onderin Starlisk]

A good thing and a bad thing had happened in the last few minutes, Onderin mused. Gren had successfully taken the Vortex and its gravity well generators. But, at the same time, some great, dark force, probably the Dark Lord of the Sith, had removed Master Kirlocca as a threat and started to take control of the Liberty.

 

Onderin was convinced there was still a chance to save that cruiser... At any rate, the Alliance was now free to leave should they want to. But, as of right now, the Admiral didn't want to leave--not when victory was so close at hand.

 

Furthermore, he didn't particularly want the Empire to leave either. He sent a comm to Commander Sairdonga. "Gren, at this time I'd like you to reactivate the gravity well generators. This time they're working for us, and that is an important distinction. Being able to leave when we want was the key here.

 

"Also, it may put you out of the action for a little while, but I'd like to you hold the Vortex against future attack. I don't want your work to go in vain."

[Lord Asshat]

Achzet heard a comm come in for the crew aboard the Fel Hammer.

 

Comm_______

 

"Fel Hammer, this is Quietus. I have delt with the Jedi aboard the Liberty, send over a boarding party. I intend to take this ship intact. I will begin clearing the way. Have them contact me when they are on board."

 

End Comm_______

 

Achzet took out his own Comm and sent a message to the bridge of the ship, calling for troops. Within minutes, a boarding party was formed and they boarded their ship. The ship sent off from the hangar and across the vast majority of space.

 

The boarding party arrived at the Liberty and set off into the ship. They had begun their first step in destroying the ship. Achzet seeked out the Dark Lord via the force and arrived at his feet. He bowed and spoke.

 

"M'lord, I have led the boarding party to the ship."

 

He stared and awaited an answer.

[Cadio Sikaot]

Cadio struggled up from the ground after being thrown from the ship by a slug impacting his right shoulder. He carefully dislodged it from its crevice, taking in a sharp breath as it slid out. He discarded it over the affected shoulder with his opposite hand. The hand would be virtually useless now, and it was starting to go numb. He would need a fairly heavy dose of bacta if he survived this ordeal.

 

Definitely not one of my better ideas.

 

He heard another familiar clang, turning to see yet another thermal detonator fall to the floor and begin ticking. Cadio ran over to it with a sigh and kicked it as hard as he could. The grenade went sailing through the air towards the air lock with a whoosh as Cadio ran the other way, ducking behind his ship. Heat blasted through the docking bay, sending debris everywhere, one piece lodging itself in Cadio's back. He ignored the pain, and slowly rose to a crouch.

 

He silenced himself, once again listening for the sounds of his adversaries. The faintest sound of a footstep alerted Cadio to at least one of his opponent's whereabouts. He silently began towards the sound. His competition may be applying the same tactic, so his silence was completely necessary. The difference between quiet and silent could be the difference between life and death in this situation. These two were better than any regular imperial personal should have been, which surprised Cadio because most of the imperial's he had seen we're that disciplined.

 

He ducked behind some barrels, spying the two men walking slowly towards his ship. One of the men, number two as Cadio now called him, had a slight limp, and a piece of shrapnel stuck in his upper left thigh. Now would be the perfect time to kill them, with two well placed shots in the back, but Cadio had more honor then that. He had been brought up to never shoot somebody in the back when you could simply shoot them from the front, accomplishing the same thing.

 

So instead, Cadio came out from behind the barrels. He walked towards his opponents with a thermal detonator in one hand and an ion grenade in the other. He held both with a dead man's switch. If one of the two shot him, both grenades would go off, leaving nothing but their remains in the hangar. He came up behind the two crouching next to the wall of his ship.

 

"I would suggest you don't shoot, or we all go up”¦"

 

((2))

[Gren Sairdonga]

Gren listened quietly as Admiral Starlisk gave him his orders... They didn't make him happy... Stuck on a crippled Imperial cruiser in the middle of perhaps the largest space battle in recent history... Many soldiers had died... Many more would die... If Gren was out their many less Alliance soldiers would die... But he understood the reason for the order... But from here he'd done what he could... The weapons on the Vortex, their targeting changed and set to auto-fire... Had begun firing on Imperial ships... It would confuse them for a while... Not long... But long enough.

 

"Acknowledged Admiral, Vortex out."

 

Turning to the 'bridge crew' he began handing out orders...

 

"You heard the Admiral. reactivate those grav well projectors.

 

A hum and a slight shift in gravity told him that once again... No-one was leaving or entering this system...

 

"We are to secure this ship from possible Imperial recapture. activate those internal sensors... Find anything alive on this ship... Confirm whether its our or not. If it isn't vent it if possible... Otherwise seal it up and remove all its oxygen. A bad way to fight I know... But I won't risk our people and having them go guerrilla on us is not an option. Contact the team in the auxiliary bridge. We're going to transfer command to there. This place is too open. Get a proton charge up here and demolish it... But not before our hackers have a chance at sweeping the main computer. Order all troops to begin immediate fortification of the auxiliary bridge. Shut down all access to it bar the route we'll be taking and one to our exit hangar... Snap to it..."

[Abaddon]

OOC: gravity wells dont keep things from entering the system...

 

IC: The former Dark Lord stared silently at the battle before his eyes....the galaxy had definately changed since hed last been around. He grinned slightly watching Montar...then gripped the control of "When Darkness Falls" and moved the Assault gunboat in closer to the battle.

 

Perhaps it was destiny that his ship was pulled out of hyperspace by those gravity well generators....

 

 

The highly modified ship moved faster than most gunboats as it was missing the powerfull ion cannons that had once weighted so sluggishly on its manuevering. The ship slid easily between the turbolaser fire and with a flick of a switch Abaddon launched his first salvo at the capital ship designated Vortex.

 

A mag pulse slammed into the main bridge disabling the shields, comms, and a variety of other computer terminals. Blasting wih his gunboats laser cannons he blew a small hole in the transparasteel window.

 

Vac suit on, he activated his remote device for "When Darkness Falls" and guided the ship into a position to allow him entrance....

 

----

 

He slipped through the hole in the hull just as a group of repair droids began to seal it away, by slapping a metal plate over the hole.

 

The sith mastered stared arond the room which was filled filled with techs and armed troops who had been carrying a variety of weapons and equipment...the boarding party was obviously well armed. He laughed aloud watching them scatter for their weapons. Having nearly been sucked into the vastness of space a few didnt even move. He reached out his hand and maximized a force push knocking all of them back further from there weapons. He shook his head.

 

"Thats not a very warm welcome." His voice crackled through the vac suits mic sounding almost like thunder.

 

Drawing his Ghurka and lightsaber he mutilated the first few bodies closest to him. He then turned his dar gaze at Gren...

 

"You must be the commander. Tell the admiral its over... or you die where you stand." He said slashing down with his ghurka. His red and black Vac suit becoming a blur of motion and the force enhanced his speed and strength.

 

 

((Duel))

[Raynuk Montar]

Quietus turned from the torture he was implementing on one poor rebel soul, letting the man drop to the ground in convulsions and looked at Achzet. After a moment, he merely nodded and spoke.

 

"Good to see you back on your feet Lord Achzet. Now, let us take this ship by force shall we?"

Nodding to the team that Achzet had brought with him, Quietus turned his attention back forward, and continued his path of destruction through the Liberty, starting with the convulsing trooper. The poor soul was lifted into the air, and thrown down the hallway at a batch of troopers who had just rounded the corner to meet the Dark Lord head on to stop him. The result was almost comical in its resemblance to bowling pins; clearly Quietus just got a strike as the men were knocked over. But intent on not letting them get up, the Dark Lord blasted all the men with force lightning, drinking in their screams of pain and terror as if he thirsted for it.

 

Stepping over the pile of now slightly charred and smoking corpses, the Dark Lord continued through the ship, Achzet and the boarding crew at his heels, helping out where they could.

[Malin Kyrell]

As the Dark Lord and his followers make their way through the cooridors of the Alliance ship, wading their way in blood, they are stopped by a long figure.

 

What Malin had to do upon his rapid departure from Mustafar, to reach Csillia, hone in on the embattered Liberty, dock, and head off the boarding crew, would have ordinarily been no small feat. Still, the Jedi was determined to do his part.

 

Like a black shadow, he waited, knowing that his quarry approached. As usual, he appeared when he was needed, and once more stepped in to confront yet another Dark Lord of the Sith.

 

When Raynuk, his squad, and Sith follower approached, they found the lone figure standing in the middle of the cooridor, his caelestum hanging loosely in his right hand. The red visor on Kyrell's face blazes as he stares down the party, giving one perfunctory command to all those before him.

 

"Turn aside or perish."

 

The command, given with a stark, powerful simplicity brooked no questions about its sincerity. The command came not from a mere Jedi Master, but a fully trained Ral'Tath Blade Master, and one who knew the full extent of their arts, giving him the means to back up his ultimatum with ease. Only the demands of honor, perhaps owing to the manner in which the Dark Lord sparred the Wookie, had saved his life and earned him the chance to stand down.

[Delta73]

"I would suggest you don't shoot, or we all go up”¦"

 

Delta winced and slowly turned, looking this man in the eye, as he slowly brought his MP5 up into the ready position. This Man meant business. He looked over to Crosa and looked back at himself. His hip was bleeding badly from a blaster bolt that had spun him around and his leg was numb with white hot pain from shrapnel, his leg almost useless now, He saw that Crosa had been wounded in the leg too from shrapnel. How and why Cadio had not shot him and Crosa in the back as he came. It was Time for Delta to speak.

 

 

”œI find you very honorable sir, Thank you and I must let you know how grateful I am that we have reached this seaming Impasse in the fighting, Well If we win the fight then you will see that Mandalorians can be honoring as well”¦”

[Lord Asshat]

Achzet bowed and followed the Dark Lord throughout the ship, slaughtering all in their path.

 

Achzet found himself infront of several Alliance soldiers. He used the force to push all upwards and ran at them with full speed. He threw his saber towards one trooper, finding a home in the man's chest, killing him instantly.

 

He turned his attention to two other troopers, rushing them and cutting them down, leaving only one. Achzet concentrated on the force and lifted the man upward. He clenched his fist and watched as the man began to slowly choke to death. However, Achzet would not kill him so painlessly. Achzet walked slowly to the man and punched the man in the ribs with his newly spiked metal hands.

 

He dug into the man's ribcage, ripping it apart violently. He then ripped the poor soldiers heart out and threw the corpse to the floor. He laughed at the magnificent blood spray that covered the floor.

 

Achzet threw the heart on the floor and continued on his path of destruction.

[Damon]

On the bridge Damon watched as events took place that could shape the battle to its fullest.

 

Ships were being won and lost left and right. Things were coming to its climax for sure. Boarding parties had taken place over many key ships. Siting on the bridge next to admiral as a comander in the Aliiance Damon knew his place was here if the need should ever arise for him to stop boarding parties from taking the ship. Not being one to jump head first into the fight he instead took over a communication station left vacant due to the mental attack and help manage the channels and report items of note as they arrived and notify the admiral as the need arised. Damon knew he was going to have to fight quite shortly however he also hopped it would end soon

[Raynuk Montar]

Quietus stopped his wave of destruction, chaos and death once the figure of Malin appeared infront of them. The Dark Lord stood to his full height, and watched the man carefully as the two stood there looking back at each other. With the words that eminated from Malin's mouth, Quietus was actually forced to look down to the floor as the words hit him. There was little in the galaxy that could cause such a reaction from Quietus, let alone the Dark Lord of the Sith. But this time, he knew it was different.

 

This time, he faced down an opponent, that despite it's mystery and ambiguity, Quietus could feel that there was a severely large amount of power resting behind that casual stance. For the first time in the battle, Quietus was actually taken back and cautious at taking this opponent on. But he found this to be a very sticky situation. Here he stood in the face of a man who Achzet and the others would no doubt not even take a second glance at. But Quietus knew better, but at the same time he knew he could not lose face infront of the troopers. Instead, he chose to stall for time.

"And who are you to stand in my path and make such remarks?"

[Malin Kyrell]

The moment the heart hit the floor, Kyrell sprang into action, ignoring even the Dark Lord of the Sith. Watching the brash Sith following at the Dark Lord's heels commit his murder was enough.

 

There is a momentary blur as Kyrell seems to move.

 

DIVINE STRIKE!!!

 

The highest level of the Blade Master's art was the almighty Divine Strike. Given by their guardian and mentor Ancestor Spirits and once used by Valeran himself, this ability set loose an unblockable series of blows and strikes that could fell any foe.

 

The moment Achzet, still at the Dark Lord's heels like some sick dog, gained satisfaction from his sadistic and grisly murder, he feels a sharp pain in his chest. In his dimming moments of consciousness, he is aware of the sight of his own heart, still faintly beating, now pierced on the edge of a narrow, black blade that emerged from his ribcage.

 

There is another small, guggling sigh as Kyrell withdraws his blade, dropping the lifeless Sith to the floor. It was done quickly and as painlessly as possible, for unlike the beast he dropped, Kyrell only did his killings out of duty. Standing in the middle of the Dark Lord and his troops, Kyrell nonchallantly cleans his caelestum with his gloved hand, finally answering the query from Raynuk.

 

"I am justice."

[Raynuk Montar]

Quietus barely moved as Achzet was struck down behind him. He allowed a sparse moment to pass as Malin cleaned his blade before the Dark Lord looked over his shoulder at the man, whos back was towards him. Beyond Malin, Quietus saw the troopers and boarding crew in utter shock and horror regarding what has just transpired. He focused back on Malin, and responded before turning back to face forward where Malin was standing not moments ago.

 

"Justice is what we make of it Blademaster. Yes. I know what you are. I knew what you were before you even struck down my companion. But no matter, for you speak of justice...From where I stand, I am executing justice as well. Justice for the men and women that are dead because of the deeds of this ship, the crew, and the Jedi it harbored. The justice we seek is not so different. You seek justice for those that I and my companions have killed, and in the process you kill yourself... It is a vicious cycle we live isnt it? Just as there will be another, after me, who seeks justice for those that you have killed, like my companion. If your path of justice is to strike me down, you would have done so already."

 

Quietus managed a sort of snorting laugh as he looked down at his own hands for a moment before risking another glance over his shoulder at Malin's back. It would be a seemingly simple move to spin and attack the Blademaster. But with the power that he knew the blademaster possessed, that seemingly simple move would most likely result in Quietus on the floor just as Achzet now was, the Sith's blood seeping from his body.

 

"Justice is merely an excuse blademaster... An excuse for one's own perverted wants and needs. You're intentions here are clear Blademaster... as are mine."

 

Quietus grinned slightly, and turned away from Malin, and quite casually began walking down the corridor again, as if nothing had happened. He was leaving the troopers and crew behind, he was leaving Achzet's body behind. But Quietus knew exactly what he was doing. What he did not know, was what the responce of the blademaster would be.

[Malin Kyrell]

Kyrell doesn't answer, aware of how he is still flanked by the Dark Lord's shock troops. He slowly turns around towards Raynuk, causing the assembled troops to step back, fearful lest they fall under his blade as well.

 

"Do not make the mistake of thinking that everything is relative, Dark Lord," Malin calls out. There is an unrivaled calm in Malin's quiet voice as it echoes down the hall, reaching Raynuk's ears. "The Force holds final sway over all, stopping the folly that would reduce this galaxy to silence. It sees beyond pointless and petty killing, and beyond murders done just to appease those perverted wants and needs. To stop those that would do such things, the Force has appointed me its humble hand."

 

Malin's voice is even calmer now, though the Ral'tath beneath can still be felt. Malin, beneath his mask, closed his eyes, meditating quietly. Malin's inner peace was as strong now as it ever was, though a cautious part in the back of his mind kept him tuned into the movement of the troops surrounding him and the Dark Lord, ready lest they try some desperate attack and mistake his quiet for weakness.

 

"You spared Kirlocca, if only to infuriate him, but one good turn deserves another. You have the choice to stand down and end this current cycle of violence. For your own sake, I beg of you to do so."

[Jidai Geki]

'What makes you think it hasn't already gone to hell, darling?'

 

*Should Armiena look at her father's face she will see that there is something rather different about him. An insane grin is plastered across his face, and he winks obscenely at her.

 

Seconds later, he is returned to normal, Geki's presence having withdrawn from him. And he is looking distinctly worried.

 

The Alderaanian authorities are finally aware of the relatively small yet supremely deadly space station in orbit. The Imperials haven't bothered to contact them; that can only mean one thing. The disquieting silence is a grim harbinger of Alderaan's demise. An event which changed the face of the galaxy forever.

 

An event which changed the heart of Armiena Draygo forever.

 

Geki seeks to change it a second time.*

 

'Viceroy, what do we do? They're going to destroy us!'

 

*Organa, his face grim and resigned, the enormity of what is about to befall his planet not yet registering- and perhaps, given his imminent death, it never will.*

 

'And so it is.'

 

'Yes, sister. So it is.'

 

*The voice is melodic, serene, peaceful. It comes from directly behind Draygo. She will be surprised to hear her own voice issue from other lips; it is not the first time for her, however, and Geki knows this. Memories and emotions are a weakness, advantages to be exploited. One does not have to break an opponent's body to defeat them.

 

The figure appears to be a lionised version of Armiena. She shares the tall, muscular frame but... beyond that, she differed wildly. Her hair was thick and lustrous, her emerald eyes clean and bright. Her skin seems to shine, an indicator of the inherent goodness within her, her oneness with the light side of the Force.

 

She wears light robes, devoid of armour or weapons apart from her almost unused lightsabre. She is a paragon, the embodiment of virtue and serenity, the epitome of the Jedi.

 

Armiena has faced herself before. Last time, she faced the darkest aspects of her being. Now she faces what might have been, the woman who never had a chance to exist because of what befell her. What befell Alderaan was incidental; it was the choice she made, the path of vengeance she chose, that defined the woman that became the Grandmaster of the Jedi.*

 

'Come, father.'

 

*Wordlessly, the illusion of Bron Draygo walks to join his daughter. She smiles briefly at him. Behind her, the large doors that serve as the entrance to the room swing open soundlessly.

 

The long, vast corridor beyond does not belong to the Palace. Rather, it is the University of Aldera. Not a representation of the University that Armiena might remember in her waking moments, but rather the demonic, hellish nightmare of her dreams.

 

The stone hallways were covered in blood. Everything was soaked in blood- the floors, the ceiling, even the twisted busts of significant figures in Alderaanian history.

 

And crowding the corridor- a legion of disfigured, maimed and vengeful wraiths. Imperials.*

 

'Armiena-'

 

*Her father stops short, worried. They cannot possibly pass through without coming to harm.

 

The virtuous Armiena takes his arm and shakes her head softly.*

 

'They are not for us, Father. They are not for me.'

 

*She locks eyes with the real Armiena.*

 

'Vengeance is their goal.'

 

*The illusions of Bron and Armiena Draygo turn and start down the corridor, the Imperial revenants parting for them without even realising. Their gaze is fixed, as one, upon the woman who murdered them in an attempt to silence the screaming souls of Alderaan. A woman who doesn't understand that vengeance solves nothing.

 

Her father and the spectral Armiena walk slowly forward, and are soon lost in the throng.

 

There is only one way forward.*

 

((4))

[Raynuk Montar]

The troopers that Quietus had been leading had up to that point been utterly terrified of Malin, especially after Achzet had been cut down so easily. But with the Dark Lord no longer in sight, that fear was seemingly intensified and compounded to the point of desperation. There was a period of awkward silence after Malin's words echoed down the hallway, as the troopers waited for some response from the Dark Lord who had left them.

 

But there would be no answer to Malin's words. At least not in the sense of a physical worded answer. Instead, slowly, the corridor began to change, darkness appearing in the corner from which Quietus had disappeared around, and began slowly creeping down the hallway towards Malin and the troopers. When the darkness reached them, Malin would realize a very disturbing fact. Quietus had suddenly disappeared from around the corner, his presence that Malin was so tuned into was spreading out through the Liberty like a tidal wave of water. The darkness that engulfed Malin and the troopers was Quietus in his most primitive. It was the darkness that was within the Dark Lord.

 

Much as he had done a handful of times before, Quietus had disappeared once more. But Malin would have little time to ponder over this fact, because once the troopers were fully engulfed in the darkness, their minds became tainted, and they quite clearly became more then just shock troopers; they were suicide troopers. All around Malin, the distinct click of weapons being leveled at him was heard. And one trooper even chose to speak, referring Malin as 'scum like all the rest'.

 

And as Malin reacted to this threat posed by the troopers all around him, the back of his mind, the very part that had been tracking Quietus before his presence expanded to fill the entire ship, heard quiet words, barely audible as Malin dealt with the troopers.

 

This cycle of violence will never end, even with my death Blademaster... War and conflict are inevitable.

 

Quietus was sheerly gone. There would be little chance Malin could pinpoint the Dark Lord within the ship given that the entire ship was rich with his dark presence, not to mention the troopers who suddenly seemed willing to die. If nothing else, it would serve as a distraction, buying Quietus the precious time that he so desired to complete the plan that had hatched in his mind.

[Malin Kyrell]

Prepared from some massive attack, Malin still stands calmly in the middle of the troops. He expected their fear of the Dark Lord to surprass their prudent fear of himself, though the cowardly tactics that Raynuk ingrained took him aback. Still, even as the corrupt darkness washes over the ship, Malin remains a calm center of light even in that dark abyss.

 

"So, Heart of Darkness... you reveal your true self..."

 

As that thought passes through him, and as Malin hears the audible click of his weapon, several things happen at once. His caelestum flashes out like a lightsaber and just as effective, bounces the errant shot right back at the trooper's weapon, disabling it in a shower of sparks. In that same moment a massive weight falls from above all around the Jedi as Malin drops his free hand. Throwing down a powerful force crush, Malin scatters the troopers around him, knocking them to the floor.

 

Before they can fire any more shots, Malin springs forward on silent feet, over the fallen shock troops, leaving only an audible clang on the floor. Moving down the hall after Raynuk at top speed, he senses the troopers rising, blindly intent on following their last order. As powerful as the Dark side's command was, crushing their minds and leading to that last command, it overrode their reason. Even as they reach for their guns, trying to draw a bead on the sable blur escaping them, the metal clang, dropped to the floor in their midst, a stun grenade, erupts. Once more the suicide troops are thrown aside like rag dolls, stunned and disabled. The Alliance forces that survived the Dark Lord's initial onslaught would soon arrive to apprehend them, making sure they were incarcerated before coming to their senses once again.

 

Wasting no further time, Malin sprints after his enemy, only slightly delayed the devlish stalling tactic. Still, Malin knew, it would be time enough for the Sith to wreck more havok and destruction, and claim more lives.

 

"Heart of Darkness... I am coming for you!"

[darth shadowlord]

His business completed on the planet such as it was, Draken turned the Defender around and headed back into space. He skirted the battle and headed towards the aft hanger of the Fell Hammer once more. There were other matters that he had to attend to. Guiding the ship inside the hanger, he slowly dismounted from the fighter and slid to the floor. He nodded to the ranking officer and headed back towards his ship.

 

Boarding his ship, he prepped his engines for departure. Ten minutes later, the Grand Duke flew into space, its pilot already making the calculations for the jump into hyperspace. A moment later it jumped into space.

[Raynuk Montar]

From his position beyond sight, Quietus grinned as he both felt and heard the moves of the Blademaster. As he had hoped, the trooper's distraction along with his own art of illusion had given the Dark Lord quite a lead and grace period of time to complete his newly hatched plan. The Dark Lord had made his way to the auxilary bridge. Finally returning himself to visability, he began working tirelessly on one of the control panels that was hardwired into the Liberty. Without the crew, and with a rogue Blademaster hot on his tail, the Dark Lord had precious little time and options as to how to accomplish his goal.

 

Removing his gauntlet from his arm, Quietus set it on the control panel as he used the force to unscrew the panel from its base. Once the inner workings were revealed, he instantly began fiddling with wires and dials, both within the panel and on his gauntlet. Every second that passed proved to be more critical then the last. Risking a brief moment of his focus to seeking out the Blademaster, Quietus found him instantly, feeling Malin's mind, and he knew the Blademaster would now know where to find the Dark Lord.

 

Then come Blademaster.

 

Turning back to his work, Quietus finished it off, and reattached the control panel and returned his gauntlet to his arm. Satisfied with his work, Quietus walked down the middle of the bridge, and was standing at the front viewport, staring out into space and the raging battle when Malin finally ran into the room. Quietus did not turn to face the blademaster, but instead spoke.

 

You are here to serve a purpose Blademaster, just as I am. While our purposes are different, on two polar oppisites of the spectrum of the Force, my purpose is now over. I have done what I came to do... I defeated three Jedi this day. Two Jedi Masters; Nom and Kirlocca, and a Jedi Knight, Scorp. Two of which died by my hand... The third, out of respect for his power and his dedication, I let live. I came here with the purpose of slaying Jedi, and my appitite for that has been fufilled. Since Kirlocca's defeat, I have slain only those who would seek to kill myself...

Quietus turned at last to face Malin, his hands clasped behind his back.

...but I am finished with that for now. The Sith no longer have any interest in this battle, and I will heed your warning Blademaster.

 

Silently, as Quietus spoke, he pushed two buttons on his gauntlet behind his back, calling for the Ogariv II to exit the hanger of the Fel Hammer and to close the distance to the Liberty. No matter what the response and reaction the Blademaster gave, Quietus was ready.

[Ulos Rolan]

((GMing is cuz Dom is going to be away for even longer so I'm going to try to knock her out of the immediate fight and still have her not look like a pushover as respect to her character.))

 

Folds of invisibility wrapped themselves around the distant behemoth, vanishing from the strict bonds of reality and transcending them into some unknown realm. All that was left was this sith master before him, one who stood waiting for his charge. Her movements bore an uncanny fluidity as she gracefully flipped herself backward to provide herself with more room between the aggressor. As the man's feet traveled, they quickly realized they would not be able to reach the woman in time for his strike to land.

 

Crap. Balance Ulos... balance.

 

During the charge, the ground beneath his feet had rapidly acquired a layer of ice atop its surface that was now attempting to slip Ulos up. Also, the fact that a paralyzing numbness was slowly masking his senses didn't really help anything. However, somehow maintaining his balance, the exile stretched out and used the force to shove the sith away. He head collided against a wall and she began to fade into darkness, a sticky circle of blood creeping through her locks.

 

And now the man fell to the ground, stumbling from the frosty surface he glided upon. He hit the ground hard, yet his dulled senses allowed him little more than an instinctual grunt. There were bigger things at hand... like the doubt that was seeking to tear him mentally. The physical plane pressed its physical limitations upon battles, yet in the realm of the mind, true wars are waged.

 

All Ulos could think is that these two were nearly beyond reproach, that they were slaughtering Alliance troops, and the situation had to me neutralized before any negotiation could even be considered. However, deep in the confines of his mind... he knew this to be a lie. He sought to deaden this lie, tucking it deep inside him to wither to frostbite. However, can any honorable mortal truly live with a lie without it festering inside?

 

”

[ObliviousKnight]

Horrified, Armiena was coerced into watching speechlessly as an image of herself””but one of a blessed paragon””strode forward and took her father away as though on a casual stroll through the royal palace's gardens. The palace itself had been replaced by an environment that she would have been perfectly content to have buried somewhere in the darkest vaults of her memories.

 

It was the nightmare. She kept seeing it, couldn't escape from it. After she had joined the Jedi, Armiena hadn't seen it for the longest time”¦ until her cataclysmic fight against Skye Organa's half-brother. Then it appeared again in her Master's trials, and now”¦ when Armiena needed her wits about her the most.

 

Blood began to drip from the arched ceiling, streaking her hair with crimson and staining the shoulders of her robe. Once again, a legion of the dead impeded her progress through the bloody river.

 

It's the turning point. Armiena suddenly realized that what happened in the next few seconds might determine the course of the battle. That was a possibility, but it would certainly determine the course of Armiena's life. She was faced with a completely unique scenario: she was faced with the possibility of what she could have been if she hadn't gone on her foolish quest for vengeance when her homeworld was destroyed. Her enemy had evoked one of her most dreaded nightmares against her, and set an insurmountable challenge before her.

 

The choice she would have to make was: would she force her way through to reach her goal, or find another path? She hesitated; confronted with such a momentous decision, she paused, and allowed her obstacle to make the choice for her.

 

The wall of the dead surged forward, thrusting a tiny wave of blood over her legs.

 

”œKill her!”

[Jidai Geki]

*And suddenly the illusion fell away.

 

The Jedi had escaped it using a method Geki had not expected her to; she was a vengeful creature, a creature used to using violence to pursue the sanctimonious path of the Jedi, and yet she had shied away from this at the last moment and had instead used regret and empathy for her victims to escape the elaborate world Geki had concocted her. An unusual choice for one such as Draygo, a woman Geki had known barely nothing about before their minds had joined in a perverse union; the Emperor and the Grandmaster of the Jedi, opposite ends of the same spectrum.

 

It had not always been so.

 

Draygo had perhaps come away from the illusory Alderaan a better person, more focused and more determined, somewhat cleansed by the experience. She had changed.

 

And perhaps, merging his mind with the woman's, so too had Geki. At least for the moment.

 

Since his fateful encounter with the Jedi Gantoris on Dagobah, a combination of the wookiee's invasive mental attack and the dreaded Prometheus virus had seen to the utter and irreversible destruction of Jidai Geki's mind. The result was an insane murderer with an inextinguishable hatred of the Jedi and their secular Rebel comrades.

 

The woman's self-taught lesson, and her partial mental healing, is conveyed to Geki for a short time via their temporary mental link. It is not enough to salve the deep mental wounds inflicted on the former bounty hunter and Master of the Balance; they will never be healed. But for the first time in years, a change comes over Geki.

 

He is restored.

 

Geki's eyes come back into focus as the illusion vanishes; he is confused, his eyes still swimming with tears and his nose and mouth stinging, but these are mere distractions for the moment.

 

He forces himself to look at the woman through the blinding pain of the irritant, can see her readying to strike a killing blow, but this too is irrelevant. He deserves a far worse fate for the atrocities he had committed.

 

By the Force... what had he done?

 

It all comes back to him in a terrible deluge. The flooding of Altyr 5. The massacre of Ryloth and the enslavement of its people. The destruction of Sanity's End and its entire populace.

 

The genocide of Coruscant.

 

He had had a hand in it all.

 

And soon, when the temporary effects of the mental bond vanished, the monster within him would rise again.

 

He focuses on the woman and forces himself to speak through the pain of the irritant.*

 

'What I've done... what we've done... I never wanted this. I was just a bounty hunter, not a murderer.'

 

*He takes a step back, the heavy gauntlets on his hands unwieldy and cumbersome for a moment, the black robes unfamiliar and outlandish.*

 

'There's no excuse for what I have been party to. None. And I can never heal myself, or the lives I've taken. If it's any consolation...'

 

*He looks at the woman, his face twisting with the heavy burden of billions of deaths.*

 

'I'm sorry, too.'

 

*His face twists again, for a different reason. The dominant Geki, the insane portion of his fragmented mind, is reasserting control.*

 

'He's coming.'

 

*Geki's face is dark with hatred- not for the woman, but for the enemy within. He will never be rid of him. He will never be stronger than him again. He is doomed to forever be a silenced voice within the hellish psyche of the Emperor.*

 

'Kill him, Jedi. Do the galaxy a favour.'

 

*Geki's eyes change suddenly, his face slips back into a neutral mask, and then twists again into the familiar grin. The grin which savours misery and death and destruction.*

 

'How unpleasant. I do so dislike it when my mind plays tricks on me like that.'

 

*He coughs violently, the fungal spore still burning through his lungs.*

 

'I hope your voyage of self-discovery taught you something, Jedi. Like the rest of your snivelling, sanctimonious comrades-in-arms, you like to pretend like you're better than the rest of us. We both know nothing could be further from the truth. You think that, of all the possible Armiena Draygos, you're one of the good ones?'

 

*Geki taps the side of his head, his grin widening.*

 

'Think again. I know you better than you know yourself, Draygo. I don't face a Jedi today- I face a vornskyr in a Bantha pelt. A charlatan. A coward who left her planet to die and has spent the rest of her life blaming everyone else for it. An indiscriminate murderess who spares not a thought for the wives she turns to widows and the children she turns to orphans.

 

'A monster.'

 

*Geki sneezes. He was becoming rather irritated by the irritant she had released. This terrible pun would amuse him were he not distracted, he reflects, as he flexes his fingers within the heavy gauntlets and readies to tear the woman's face off.*

 

'Don't pretend like you're better than me, Draygo. Don't pretend that you're here to serve the greater good. You're just here to take revenge again, much as you have a thousand times before. You'll never stop taking revenge.'

 

*A second man walks to stand by Geki's side. It is one that the woman is intimately familiar with, yet one she doesn't know at all.

 

Aryian Darkfire.

 

Darkfire has been twisted by the dark side. His eyes are bloodshot and hateful, his lips curled back in a perennial snarl. His robes are tattered and dirty, his hair matted with the blood of the men, women and children he has dispatched.

 

This vision is not a product of Geki's shattered mind, but rather a reproduction of Darkfire as he once was. A warrior broken to the dark side by the then Governor of SEED.*

 

'Meet the real Darkfire. The man hiding just beneath the surface of that pathetic man you are betrothed to.'

 

*Geki takes advantage of the inevitable distraction posed by the sudden appearance of her fiancé, pulling one of his carbine blasters and firing four shots in quick succession. He still cannot rely on his streaming eyes, and so the Force guides his shots...*

 

((5))

 

OOC: Great fun, Obsidian. I had a blast researching your char for some juicy mental trauma to use against you. May the best Jedi/genocidal maniac win.